Egyptian Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Goddesses, and Traditions of Ancient Egypt

Product Information

Temples, whose surviving remains date mostly from the New Kingdom and later, are another important source of myth. Many temples had a per-ankh, or temple library, storing papyri for rituals and other uses. Some of these papyri contain hymns, which, in praising a god for its actions, often refer to the myths that define those actions. Other temple papyri describe rituals, many of which are based partly on myth. [46] Scattered remnants of these papyrus collections have survived to the present. It is possible that the collections included more systematic records of myths, but no evidence of such texts has survived. [25] Mythological texts and illustrations, similar to those on temple papyri, also appear in the decoration of the temple buildings. The elaborately decorated and well-preserved temples of the Ptolemaic and Roman periods (305 BC–AD 380) are an especially rich source of myth. [47] The title gives the content away. It is indeed a comprehensive overview of the origins and roles of Egyptian gods and goddesses, having been worshipped for more than three-fifths of history as it is known. Jan Assmann’s The Search for God in Ancient Egypt is another one of the best introductions to ancient Egyptian mythology and religion on the market today. Roth, Ann Macy (2001). "Opening of the Mouth". In Redford, Donald B. (ed.). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. Vol.2. Oxford University Press. pp.605–609. ISBN 978-0-19-510234-5. Tobin, Vincent Arieh (2001). "Myths: An Overview". In Redford, Donald B. (ed.). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. Vol.2. Oxford University Press. pp.464–469. ISBN 978-0-19-510234-5.

Tobin, Vincent Arieh (1989). Theological Principles of Egyptian Religion. P. Lang. ISBN 0-8204-1082-9.

How to Vote

Ritner, Robert Kriech (1993). The Mechanics of Ancient Egyptian Magical Practice. The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. ISBN 0-918986-75-3. The Egyptian Book of the Dead: The Book of Going Forth by Daytranslated by Raymond Faulkner and Ogden Goelet The culture of Ancient Egypt is a must for anyone who wants to increase their cultural knowledge. We invite you to consult our Egyptian mythology books in PDF, a free collection that will allow you to take an entertaining walk through thousands of years of this great civilization. The ancient Egyptians believed that some powerful gods and goddesses ruled over their daily lives in all seasons. The book takes you on a journey through ancient Egypt during the time of the pharaohs and the sphinxes.

Several attempts have been made to eliminate her from records so that it appears that she does not exist. But, with Senenmut as her high priest, she needs Talibah’s help to reclaim her rightful place in history. The adventure is filled with riddles, old stories, and a surprising connection to Talibah’s and Adom’s mother’s mysterious death. Mythology is defined by Merriam-Webster as an “allegorical narrative,” a “body of myths,” and “myths dealing with gods, demigods, and legendary heroes of a particular people.” When we think of mythology books for adults, we tend to just think of fantastical stories, epic poetry, and folktales, but most of these stories began their lives as religious narratives or mythologized history. The line between religion and mythology is quite thin. Myths helped create the basis for some religious rituals and practices, and help pass down cultural identity and religious teachings to the future generations of its culture. There is no doubt that this mythology has it all, it has no shortage of fascinating stories and surprising related facts, such as beliefs about death and the soul. From the physiognomy of the gods, with bodies half human and half animal, to the mummies, the pyramids, their forms of expression, everything is truly worthy of study. You can’t study the ancient Egyptian civilization without learning about the impact of mythology. Egyptian culture, art, literature, and architecture are all influenced by mythical figures and events.

Non-fiction

Jan Assmann’s The Mind of Egypt takes up the ambitious task of presenting an intellectual history (or “history of ideas”) of ancient Egypt – that is, it describes the ideas through which the ancient Egyptians perceived their world, and how those ideas and perceptions changed over time. And it succeeds brilliantly. What else would you expect from the author of The Search for God in Ancient Egypt (#3 above)? Roger Lancelyn Green’s Tales of Ancient Egypt is the second introduction to ancient Egyptian mythology for kids that I would recommend. Like Donna Jo Napoli’s Treasury of Egyptian Mythology, Green’s book presents Egyptian mythology in a way that’s accessible and enchanting for children. But where Napoli tends toward the charming and cute, Green evokes a sense of genuine awe. His retellings are probably closer to the way that an ancient Egyptian parent might have told these stories to his or her own child. (Like Napoli, however, Green leaves out the lurid content in the originals that some parents might not want in their children’s reading material.) The collection of episodes surrounding Osiris' death and succession is the most elaborate of all Egyptian myths, and it had the most widespread influence in Egyptian culture. [80] In the first portion of the myth, Osiris, who is associated with both fertility and kingship, is killed and his position usurped by his brother Set. In some versions of the myth, Osiris is actually dismembered and the pieces of his corpse scattered across Egypt. Osiris' sister and wife, Isis, finds her husband's body and restores it to wholeness. [81] She is assisted by funerary deities such as Nephthys and Anubis, and the process of Osiris' restoration reflects Egyptian traditions of embalming and burial. Isis then briefly revives Osiris to conceive an heir with him: the god Horus. [82] Statues of Osiris and of Isis nursing the infant Horus

Deities are at the core of any mythology. They are supernatural gods and goddesses whose experiences provide moral lessons to modern generations. The book features well-illustrated myths of the powerful Egyptian gods and goddesses. Each deity along the Nile is described in the tales in terms of the magic they performed. Additionally, you will learn how Egyptian mythology shaped ancient Egyptian culture. It’s the crowning achievement of ancient Egyptian spiritual literature. Considering the competition for that title – the Pyramid Texts, the Coffin Texts, the Instruction for Merikare, the Dispute between a Man and His Ba, and others – that’s saying quite a bit.

Follow us

The author does not stop there. He presents readers with an exhaustive list of the Egyptian Pantheon from the most famous to the least known. This Catalogue of Deities is essentially an encyclopedia containing sections about every god and goddess from ancient Egypt. Each entry details the deity’s mythology, iconography, and worship. Hardcover Women of Myth: From Deer Woman and Mami Wata to Amaterasu and Athena, Your Guide to the Amazing and Diverse Women from World Mythology by Jenny Williamson and Genn McMenemy Many gods appear in artwork from the Early Dynastic Period of Egypt's history (c. 3100–2686 BC), but little about the gods' actions can be gleaned from these sources because they include minimal writing. The Egyptians began using writing more extensively in the Old Kingdom, in which appeared the first major source of Egyptian mythology: the Pyramid Texts. These texts are a collection of several hundred incantations inscribed in the interiors of pyramids beginning in the 24th century BC. They were the first Egyptian funerary texts, intended to ensure that the kings buried in the pyramid would pass safely through the afterlife. Many of the incantations allude to myths related to the afterlife, including creation myths and the myth of Osiris. Many of the texts are likely much older than their first known written copies, and they therefore provide clues about the early stages of Egyptian religious belief. [45] In traveling across the sky, Ra brings light to the earth, sustaining all things that live there. He reaches the peak of his strength at noon and then ages and weakens as he moves toward sunset. In the evening, Ra takes the form of Atum, the creator god, oldest of all things in the world. According to early Egyptian texts, at the end of the day he spits out all the other deities, whom he devoured at sunrise. Here they represent the stars, and the story explains why the stars are visible at night and seemingly absent during the day. [91] Ra (at center) travels through the underworld in his barque, accompanied by other gods [92] Uphill, E. P. (2003). "The Ancient Egyptian View of World History". In Tait, John (ed.). 'Never Had the Like Occurred': Egypt's View of Its Past. UCL Press. pp. 15–29. ISBN 978-1-84472-007-1.

Over time, the Egyptians developed more abstract perspectives on the creation process. By the time of the Coffin Texts, they described the formation of the world as the realization of a concept first developed within the mind of the creator god. The force of heka, or magic, which links things in the divine realm and things in the physical world, is the power that links the creator's original concept with its physical realization. Heka itself can be personified as a god, but this intellectual process of creation is not associated with that god alone. An inscription from the Third Intermediate Period (c. 1070–664 BC), whose text may be much older, describes the process in detail and attributes it to the god Ptah, whose close association with craftsmen makes him a suitable deity to give a physical form to the original creative vision. Hymns from the New Kingdom describe the god Amun, a mysterious power that lies behind even the other gods, as the ultimate source of this creative vision. [71] Assmann covers ancient Egyptian views on good and evil, time, justice, political institutions (especially the pharaoh), the afterlife, monumental architecture like the Pyramids, burial customs such as mummification, the relationship between the spiritual and material worlds, the relationship between the sacred and history, the character and destiny of the Egyptian people and state, and more – as well as how views on all of those topics changed over the several millennia of ancient Egyptian civilization. Additionally, it gives historical overviews of the time periods in question, so that you can see how historical events and changing perceptions of the world went hand in hand. Yes, it really does cover that much ground, and does so in a refreshingly accessible and nontechnical writing style. As with The Search for God in Ancient Egypt, Assmann’s passion for the topic is as palpable as his unrivaled mastery of it. Quirke, Stephen (2001). The Cult of Ra: Sun Worship in Ancient Egypt. Thames and Hudson. ISBN 0-500-05107-0. The Search for God in Ancient Egypt differs from the introductory books offered by Wilkinson (#1 above) and Pinch (#2 above) in that it presents ancient Egyptian mythology and religion as a worldview, with an emphasis on the conceptual themes that defined it. Whereas Wilkinson and Pinch give lots of details about individual deities, symbols, and such, and are fundamentally arranged as encyclopedias, Assmann here offers much more of the big picture and less compartmentalized detail. However, unlike Wilkinson’s or Pinch’s works, The Ancient Gods Speak is thoroughly academic. If you can’t stand academic writing, this book is definitely not for you. However, it’s still written for a lay audience, albeit probably a better-educated and/or more intellectual one than those other encyclopedia-esque introductory books. And the tradeoff for that lessened accessibility is, of course, greater scholarly rigor.Dunand, Françoise; Zivie-Coche, Christiane (2004) [French edition 1991]. Gods and Men in Egypt: 3000 BCE to 395 CE. Translated by David Lorton. Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-8853-2. Egyptian mythology is the collection of myths from ancient Egypt, which describe the actions of the Egyptian gods as a means of understanding the world around them. The beliefs that these myths express are an important part of ancient Egyptian religion. Myths appear frequently in Egyptian writings and art, particularly in short stories and in religious material such as hymns, ritual texts, funerary texts, and temple decoration. These sources rarely contain a complete account of a myth and often describe only brief fragments. If you’re already familiar with the seemingly bizarre and fantastic gods and goddesses worshiped by the ancient Egyptians and want to understand how the ancient Egyptians themselves viewed divinity as such, or if you’re coming to the study of ancient Egyptian religion from a chiefly theological perspective from the outset, then this is the book to read. Shaw, Garry J. (2014). The Egyptian Myths: A Guide to the Ancient Gods and Legends. Thames & Hudson. ISBN 978-0-500-25198-0. Although Horus to some extent represents any living pharaoh, he is not the end of the lineage of ruling gods. He is succeeded first by gods and then by spirits that represent dim memories of Egypt's Predynastic rulers, the souls of Nekhen and Pe. They link the entirely mythical rulers to the final part of the sequence, the lineage of Egypt's historical kings. [62] Birth of the royal child [ edit ]